Welding rod



Oct. 25, 1932. F, H, NULLMEYER 1,884,149

WELDING ROD Filed llaich 2, 1928 /N VEN ron rraRlvErS Patented Oct. 25, 1932` [UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE l sriEEr am) TUBE coxrm,

OF YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO, A CORPORATION F OHIO WELDING non Application illed latch 2,

' The` present invention relates to= metallic rods or wires employed in welding operations requiring the use of fluxes. ."In such operations 'therods are introduced with the necessary iluxing material into a heated welding zone produced by the welding torch or arcto thereby melt the metal of the rod in the presence of the flux with resulting formation' of the weld.

To this en d it `has heretofore been custof v mary to coat the rod with the luxin material either during the manufacture o the rod or just prior to its being used in forming the weld so that as the rod is progressively brou ht into and melted 'in the welding zone, the uxing material will likewise be pro' gressively carried into the zone along with tact between the rod and the conductor by means of which, whatever be its nature, the current is brought to the rod. It has therefore been usual in the electric welding to employ flux coated rods of relatively short length and to scrape' ofi' or otherwise remove the. coating from that part of the rodusually the rear end thereof-where the conductor is to be connected or else to initially coat the rods for a portion of their length vonly so as to leave one end uncoated for connection ofthe conductor. This results in a considerable loss'of time and resulting ex- 'ense' in cleaning therods' where they are ully coated initially and enhances the cost of manufacture where the rods are only coated for la lportion of their length ;.additionlly, the uncoated portion of the rod being devoid of flux cannot lbe used for the actual welding so thaty after'the coated portion ofthe rod is used Jup the uncoated lportion must be thrown awaywith resulting loss. A further disadvantage arises from inability to satisfactorily employ in electric welding a fully ma. semi ne. 2508.470.

coated rod of indefinite length coiled on a spool or-the like from which it ma be drawn as required, for, under these con itions, the necessary electric ,Contact cannotbe maintained through the flux as the rod is progressively drawn over the 'contiwtory or other me'ans designed to convey the4 current to the ro It .is therefore a principal object of my inventlon to provide a welding vrod having luxing material disposed in spaced indentations formed in its surface in such manner that satisfactory electric contact may be established with saidsurface at any desired po1nt.`

A further object of my invention is to provlde' a welding rod which while adapted to retain. a predetermined quantity of luxing materlal and-to carry it into the welding zone yet is of such character that satisfactory electric contact can be made with the rod at any desiredpoint on its surface or progressively as the rod is moved past a suitable contactor.

A still further object of the invention is to provlde a rod of the character aforesaid which may be manufactured at a cost not materlally higher than the fully coated rods heretofore in use and which may be satisfactorly employed for electric welding in short .lengths without the necessity for removing the uxing material adjacent the point where the electric connection is to be established with the rod, or which may be formed in rolls or coils of indefinite len h and drawn therefrom through the wel ing machine as re- ,quired in the Welding operation while maintaining a satisfactory electric contact-.with the surface of the rod. l

My invention further includes other objects and novel features hereinafter more particularly mentioned or whichawill be apparent to those familiar with the art from l the following description of a rod formed in accordance with my invention in its preferred embodiment and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

In the said drawing Fig. 1 is van elevation ofk a section of the rod; Fig. 2 is also an elevation thereof but on a considerably larger scale, this figure showing the rod both in its i finished form, that is, after the flux has been introduced into the indentations in the surface of the rod and also in unfinished form, that is, before the introduction of the flux.l Figs. 3 and 4 are respectively transverse sections of the finished rod on lines 3-3 and 4 4 in Fie'. 2, while Fig. 5 is a fragmentary pity of spaced indentations by through rolls having teeth or' pro ections of view showing the surface of the unfinished rod developed into a plane, The same symbols are used to designate like parts in the several figures.

As shown, the rod-comprises a body 1 of metal having a composition suitable for the particular kind of weldinglfor which the rod is designed to be employed, the body, as usual,

being of cylindrical cross section and of any' desired length. Ordinarily it is found convenient to initially draw or otherwise form the body with a smooth unbroken cylindrical surface and to the desired'diameter by any of' the usual and well known methods 'emplo ed for the manufacture of wires or rods an to then form in the surface'of the .body a pluralpassing` it suitable contour. Preferably eac of these indentations, generally designated as 2, in shape conforms at the surface of the body substantially to a more or less conventional s ar head and thus comprises a straight e ve a extending parallel to the axis of the i rod and oppositely disposed side ed es b-b faces of the indentations converge `wardly and inwardly to meet in a line d exres ectively curving rst outwardl rom the en s of the ed e a and then inwar y to meet at a point c. rom the edges b, the sides or downtending transversely lto thev axis of the rod,

while from the edge w the end face of the in-' dentation extends downwardly and inwardly in. an approximately radial direction. I have found that indentations of this general form are eminently suitable for their intended purwith suitable teet or projections.

In accordance/with the preferred lpractice of my invention the maximum `depth of each indentation measured inwardly from the surface of the rod approximates or isja littleless than one-fourth of the diameter of the latter but of course the depth and size ofv the indentations may be varied somewhat in accordance with the amount of flux which it is desired to embody in the rod for each unit of its length and this consideration will also largely determine the longitudinalspacing between" the indentations.

'transversely' of the rod A'The indentations are preferably 'arranged in longitudinally extending rows, yfour of v'which are ordinarily employed and spaced symmetrically about the circumference of the rod. From an inspection of the drawing it will be apparent that in accordance with the preferred practice of the invention the straight edges ain one adjacent pair of these rows, designated as :v and y, are arranged adjacent each other and that a similar arrangement is utilized in the other air of rows :1f-g' while moreover, the in entations in each pair of-rows are ali ed with each other bidt are in staggered relation with the indentations in the ot er pair of rows. Thus when viewed as in Figs. 1 and 2 in which. the rows :v and y, for example, are visible, the respective indentations in these rows are in transverse alignment with each other but point in opposite dlrections; if, however, the rod be rotated from this po'sition in either direction, the indentations in the rows then visible would be in respectively staggered relation lwith theirpoints c extending toward each other. I have found that this arran ment and disposltion of the indentations is esirable in that, amon f rtion o other things, it results in leaving a exposed the surface of the body of the r throughout its .len h and mimmizes the weakening of the r and any tendency whlch it might otherwise have to fracture transversely at predetermined points.

After the indentations have been formed the body of the rod appears as shown at the right hand end of Fi 2 and is now in condition to receive the uxing material, designated as 5, which may be applied in aniyl7 suitable way, convenientlyl by drawing t e rod through a mass of t plastic or semi-liquid form so as to coat the rod thoroughly therewith and then passlng 1t through a ,die to remove theexcess material from the surface of the rlandexpose and clean the latter while consolidatin thejrna terial in the indentations and insuring its ade material while l in herence to the sides and ends thereof. Under certain conditions it may then be desirable to bake or otherwise treat the rod to effect further consolidation and drying of the fluxing character although, of course, any desired fluxing material may 'be employed? Under practical conditions it is found that -a rodI constructedl in accordance with my inmaterial which is generally of a4 siliceous vention can be shipped and handled in the abling the latter to be used satisfactorily in substantially any form of electrical welding apparatus. It will of course be appreciated that use of the rod is not, howev confined to such apparatus as it may be irnployed if desired in acetylene or other gas welding operations, affording as it does a convenient way of carrying the iuxing material into the welding zone .the primary utility of the rod however, as above pointed out, resides in its use in electric welding.

While for convenience I have frequently herein employed the word rod when speaking of the electrode, I do not thereby intend to exclude from the scope of the invention those electrodes of relatively small diameter which are more usually referred to as Wires than as rods, and it will thus be understood that both of said terms are herein used in a generic as distinguished from a specific sense.

I desire it to be further 'understood that the present invention is not limited or confined to the specific example thereof herein disclosed, but may be practised in various other ways within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States:

1. A welding rod comprising a metal body having a plurality of substantially spearshaped indentations in its surface arranged in longitudinal spaced relation in four longitudinally extending rows disposed symmetrically about the body, the indentations in adjacent pairs of rows being disposed in opposite directions transversely of the rod and in longitudinally staggered relation with respect to the corresponding indentations in the other pair of rows.

2. A welding rod comprising a metal body having a plurality of indentations arranged in. longitudinally extending rows disposed symmetrically about the body, the surface of the rod between the sides of adjacent rows being substantially uninterrupted longitudinally thereof, each of said indentations being included at the surface ofthe body between a pair of curvilinear edges converging in the direction of an aA Ljacent row and the opposite walls 'of each of sa'ld indentations converging within the rod in a line extending su stantially normal to the axis thereof, and fiuxing material filling said indentations substantially level with the non-indented surface of the rod. v

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 14 day of February, 1928.

' FRANK I-I. NULLMEYER. 

